1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plant support system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plant support system that enables simple and quick adjustability of the support to accommodate different shapes of plants and also to accommodate plant growth, and wherein the support includes loops formed from thin, fiber-reinforced strands to avoid rusting and corrosion and to render the system less visually obtrusive to a casual observer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, low to moderate height (less than about eight feet) growing plants, such as flowers and various types of vegetables, such as beans, peas, and the like, are supported by plant supports that Include stakes. The stakes are placed in the ground adjacent to the plant and one or more ties are provided to encircle either the main stalk of the plant or branches that extend from the main stalk. The ties define loops that surround the main stalk or a branch. Other forms for such types of plant supports can be based upon providing several stakes, where lateral support is provided either by individual loops or by a continuous length of cord or strand that extends between the several stakes to support the plant. Most known plant support systems rely upon metal stakes. And although plant supports have been designed that solve some of the problems associated with such supports, all have the common defect of utilizing either a metal strand or a cumbersome, non-reinforced, relatively limp components to prevent the relatively thick strand from kinking or having such a spring force, given the large dimensions, that only a multi-component system can hold them in place.
Complex systems are required to align and position the predominant metal strand polymeric material to provide the lateral support.
The most prevalent plant support materials are vinyl or epoxy-coated steel or galvanized steel. All are essentially fixed size components, not readily adjustable (with respect to all three components, if all three exist?). To accommodate various situations, many different products and components are required with relatively complex configurations, such as crimps, kinks, locks, slides, and the like. By virtue of their ferrous or aluminum content, the metal components require coatings or surface treatments of some type to be able to withstand the environment. All such coatings have limited lifetimes because of their inherent composition, and also because of the presence of an interface between the metals and the coatings.
The ferrous and aluminum components can kink or bend, and in order to have strength they require substantial mass. Kinks and bends can lead to premature failure or deterioration in performance, and when they do or do not detract from performance they are no longer attractive. The substantial mass and requisite methods of connection further limit performance and adjustability. Additionally, to prevent kinking and still have sufficient strength, such mass is required that any memory or spring force is so high as to require built-in means beyond simple friction to maintain the relative position of such lateral support members to the stakes or to each other. Finally, this substantial mass and substantial size can detract from the desired physical appearance of seeing only the plant.
While some materials have been designed and built utilizing cast or molded fiberglass mat reinforced plastics for decorative trellises or simple stakes, they are heavier, not adjustable, and lack oriented, anisotropic strength characteristics that provide for structural memory. It would be desirable if a system could be devised that combined the virtues of metals without the limiting factors of metals, or the inherent weakness of unreinforced plastics, and that was so versatile as to dramatically reduce the number of components required to produce an infinite array of plant supports. It would also be desirable to be able to employ a material where strength was maximized, but dimensions and volume of material utilized were minimized, and if the material for most of the components possessed the sound dampening characteristics of the metals mentioned earlier, to connote a higher quality than simple plastics.
The following patents describe various types of known plant supports:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,369 (Vomfell) describes a belt-type of plant support made from polymeric material. The belt is passed through apertures provided in the stake and is connected at its ends to form a hoop. While partially solving some of the problems mentioned above, the polymeric belt has no significant memory to return to on original orientation until it is grossly deformed. Furthermore, because it possesses no fiber reinforcement of any kind, the belt will twist under the weight of the plant, unless the plant is woody, in which case support would likely be unnecessary. Finally, the requirement for fixed configuration, elongated apertures in the stakes adds manufacturing steps, and it also removes the ability to continuously adjust the heights and the number of the support hoops along the stake. Finally, to provide the necessary strength, polymeric belts of relatively large cross section are required that will be highly unattractive where decorative gardening is concerned, not to mention the costs related to using excess materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,258 (Schneider) describes a potted plant support system that has a flat base member that is securable to a plant pot with a key that secures the base member to the pot base. The plant is supported by a rod that can be notched to retain plant ties. The disclosed system can also include a rod support clip that engages the pot periphery and includes a rod support extension. Also disclosed is a plant support hook that slidingly engages the rod and that releasably engages itself to form a plant-retaining loop. The plant support loop can be used to hold the plant relative to the rod. In the preferred embodiment, the plant support loop (40) comprises a sleeve (42) that can slidingly engage the rod. The sleeve should preferably have the same shape as the cross-sectional shape of the rod to permit the sleeve to slide up and down the rod. The sleeve can then rest on support wedges. In the preferred embodiment, the sleeve is open so that pulling on the arms allows the sleeve to be expanded such that the support loop can be pulled past a wedge in either direction. Alternatively, if the rod is circular in cross section and has notches instead of wedges, the sleeve can be tubular. In that case, a setscrew can be provided to set the plant support loop at a desired height. The loop is in the form of two semi-circular arms that each end in closing hooks that extend from the sleeve. The two closing hooks can engage each other to close the loop formed by the arms and support the plant. Preferably, the arms are formed from a rigid material capable of elastic deformation so the arms can be easily manipulated to engage and disengage the hooks. It is further preferred if the hooks are at right angles to each other to facilitate engagement with each other.
The problem noted above is only partially solved by Schneider in an unduly complex manner with a device that cannot be continuously adjustable in all dimensions. Specifically, the loop structures described, and alternately employed by Peacock, Inc. in a different manner, are fixed in size and require a complex manipulation and manufacturing process. The loops are not continuously variable, can be easily seen, and are subject to corrosion, even if coatings and treatments are utilized to slow the process. In fact, coupling the loops to the sleeves permanently further limits their functional variability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,859 (Lazar) describes a plant tie for securing a plant limb of a plant relative to a supporting member, for example, a plant stake. The tie is a soft flexible, elastic loop; more particularly the loop is of knitted material and is formed from a toe clip remnant of knitted hosiery manufacture. Here again, the problem of continuously variable support position is not solved. Rather, these ties solve a very specific problem where widely employed plant ties have the major disadvantage that they resist growth of the plant limb, which under normal growth enlarges, and they also restrict mobility of the plant limb relative to the stake. Only very small lengths can be used, and entire plants or groups of plants cannot be effectively supported.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,956 (Rocka) describes a foldable plant support system which provides a structure within which a plant can be grown and physically supported. A protective cover can be drawn over the support system to provide a protective environment for a plant contained within the cover, along with an irrigation system. The plant support structure has two or more vertical members and a number of cross members connected to each other by a rotatable connector assembly to provide the foldable feature of the structure. A vertical member typically is rod-like to extend the entire height of the structure, and it has attachment points where it is attached to a connector assembly. The vertical member also includes a staking structure that is used to anchor the plant support structure in place when in use. Loop shaped cross members are connected to and extend laterally from the vertical members, and each has attachment points for attaching the cross member to a connector assembly. The connector assembly provides a rotatable or pivotable attachment means for rotatably connecting a vertical member to a cross member. An exemplary connector is a hub and an axle assembly, with the hub having a passage for closely receiving and retaining one end of the axle. Again, the structure is unnecessarily complex, and is not at all variable, let alone continuously variable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,172 (Ballarino) relates to an improved plant holder for use in a garden for supporting plants and vines as they grow and mature. The plant holder includes a plurality of identical posts that can be driven into the ground by means of pointed ends. Each post has a plurality of hooks in pairs at different heights along the post. Further, rods are provided between the posts and clip into the hooks to lie in a horizontal plane at each of the different levels of the hooks. Since the hooks are paired on either side of the posts at different levels, a pair of rods can also be found at the corresponding levels. Each pair of rods is connected by C-clips that snap over the rods. A plant, such as a tomato plant, can be supported by this structure by driving the posts on either side of the plant, assembling the rods into the hooks on either side of the plant stem, then applying the clips to secure the rods into position. Further, the clips are sufficiently spaced along the rods to allow a branch of the plant to be drawn through an opening in the clips for further support of the branches. Again, a highly complex, multi-part system that has only limited variability by design and material choice.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,107 (Louisiana) describes a complex, non-reinforced, multi-component system for supporting plants. Clear plastics, specifically acrylate polymers, are described as being especially useful. As already noted, unreinforced plastics require additional material for requisite strength, and if clear they will discolor over time. Furthermore, plastic materials will creep over time, causing slow, but eventual, plastic deformation that can lead to an unsightly device, an unusable device, and catastrophic failure under even moderate loading. This system is not continuously adjustable, and it requires a large number of different parts for manufacture and a large inventory to be significantly altered at all.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,162 (Stuckey) describes a plant vine support in the form of a post or stake member adapted to be driven into the earth and spaced a distance away from the plant or vine. A plurality of rings are provided, each ring having integrally formed stabilizing members for stabilizing the rings in vertical and horizontal planes, and connectors for detachably securing the rings to the post or stake. In one embodiment, pairs of passageways in the channel post receive pairs of locking hooks, and in another embodiment one of the locking hooks is a locking detent. Both embodiments are low in cost and can be easily manufactured. The component parts in both embodiments have relatively flat dimensions and can be transported easily, and they are easily assembled and disassembled and stored, and various size rings, frames, or hoops can be utilized in various combinations on a common post. Again, fixed size rings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,636 (Stuckey) describes a plant vine support that utilizes a channel-shaped post having a U-shaped central portion. A pair of laterally-projecting flanges 15 with locking lug pairs integrally formed on the flanges and a locking lug and shoulders are provided in the U-shaped portion of the post. The ring is provided with a complementary locking structure that is coplanar with the ring support and is adapted to interengagingly locking maneuver as well as a simple unlocking and disassembling maneuver. The rings are simple, they stack flat, and they are far less susceptible of hooking with one another and thereby entangling themselves during storage. Again, a fixed system in terms of the sizes of the rings and their location along the stake.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,976 (Carroll et al.) describes rings that are continuously adjustable along a stake. The rings themselves are not adjustable in diameter, and they are made of plastic, particularly polyethylene.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,009,668 (Lay) describes rings that are continuously adjustable along a stake. The rings themselves are not adjustable in diameter and are an all-metal strand construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,632 (Zingre) describes a split strand loop that is variable in diameter by adjusting the relative engagement of the ends with reference to crimps along the loops. Metal strand construction, complex parts, and bending operations. Not continuously adjustable, requires hooking to fix positions. No vertical stake adjustment. It is worth noting that the dimension strand required not to kink again produces such a force as to make it very difficult to practice the invention without something beyond a simple crimp to engage the strand at smaller diameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,676,468 (Waterman) describes a stake construction having strand rings intertwined with a knit strand stake with an all-metal strand construction.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 411,722 (Grimes) describes a simple, rigid, partially variable plant support ornamental design that illustrates a potentially useful configuration concept that would be more useful if it were continuously variable. The strand structures are fixed in length, and there is no indication as to a methodology of configuring the device.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 406,021 (Grimes) also shows a simple, rigid, partially variable plant support ornamental design that illustrates a potential useful configuration concept that would be more useful if it were continuously variable. This reference only discloses simple loops, as also shown in other patents, and not multiple, complex shapes. No material specifications are disclosed. Further, the additional components must be fixed to at least one portion of the loop strand for any variation to be possible. If not assumed to be in a fixed position, then there are no means shown for maintaining position, particularly with strand. Even then, metal strand of sufficient dimension not to kink will not remain in position even if this design were variable. Finally, to fix the ends, one must then fix the ring to coupling element, and so variability is compromised and limited to only rings, particularly rings of half the circumference of the maximum circumference. Materials are critical to achieve a variable product.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 403,560 (Ruggiero) is directed to a simple, loop-only stake design with fixed size loops and loop positions along the stake. No materials are specified.